unvocalized observations
by nimuelsa
Summary: He never speaks more than he needs to. She keeps her cards to herself. He sees, and she knows he understands, but never vocalizes it.


unvocalized observations

summary: He never speaks more than he needs to. She keeps her cards to herself. He sees, and she knows he understands, but never vocalizes it. OR: a really shitty summary

They see.

( _but they never understand_ )

They know.

( _they never comprehend_ )

They realize.

( _too, too late_ )

She stands tall and back straight, much straighter than the air pilot's slouch, or the fair-haired ( _damaged_ ) hero who's eyes are too dark for their brightness, whose back is just a smidge lower, heavier with the weight of the world.

Her mouth babbles a stream of inanities, but without it, the camp is quiet, almost sullen, and haven't you all experienced silence? Silence that is unwilling and cold and dampens any atmosphere? You didn't realize how important she is, not really, with how childish she acts, how her dark eyes gleam but there is no luster, that there is want to confide, and that she keeps you an armlength away?

No, all you see is a thin waif of a child, a brat, not a survivor with cunning and the possibility of hatred. But she gives, doles out affection, bringing you together in ways that otherwise are impossible, and she takes all your materia in the end.

She is a clever child, and you never saw how important she was. She makes sure her departure is tinged with affection, the way adults see children, but still, _still_ underestimating her. They do not see her back straight, her willingness to be put down to make the team gel, the team work together, the team of outcasts, and they turned her into an outcast to make it work.

And she accepted it, with almost-cold eyes, the eyes that are still resolutely clinging to remnants of childhood, a mouth that thins for a moment, teeth that bite into the flesh of her lip, fingers that begin to curl into fists that could break them, but she never does. Her control is admirable, her tenaciousness impressive.

She sees that you are all so cold, brought together by a common cause. You do not converse casually, not in a manner that speaks of loyalty and togetherness, not until she incites deeper roots, loyalty, a common, defeatable foe to unite against and it is something that makes you all closer.

You only see her, but you never understand. Even your fair-haired hero could stand and defeat her, enhanced and a body type that is similar to hers, petite and waiflike, once upon a time. But none other, none other except for me.

She is someone so similar to ( _her_ ) someone I knew. Admirable, intelligent and strong, but the one I knew did not know such skills as Yuffie. Perhaps her temperament would change if she had the skills Yuffie had, but I do not know.

( _yes I d -_ )

It disappoints me. The fact that you disregard her so easily, with almost-cold eyes and just the beginnings of negative feelings when in reality, you would've done the same in her situation. Tch, you never appreciated what you had until they were gone.

Oh. Now you notice. Now you notice me, quietly sipping on a drink that Tifa concocted, adding different variations while reminiscing over old days. It was a fruity drink at first, with daubs of orange and painful sunshine yellows, a single tendril of black snaking through the concoction.

You do not realize, do you? Ah, well, it's just me, quiet as ever. My words are selective and few, and I do not see much usefulness in prattling like Yuffie does. What she does is only appreciable, and only if one does it.

Yuffie goes closer, a seemingly childish smile ( _mask_ ) on her innocent features ( _disguise_ ) as she babbles on ( _trick_ ), gauging their subconscious reactions to her movements ( _scouting_ ) and tossing out questions ( _interrogation_ ) while she sips on her virgin (Tifa checks) drink, leaning back on her chair ( _veneer_ ) all casual grace as she never falls, to the amusement of the other girl.

Ah. Thoughts on Yuffie aside, I do not believe Tifa truly _loves_ Cloud. More like what he represents, a hero, and a memento of their shared past, since Nibelheim did… manage to be replaced, without a single hitch. Perhaps she thinks of him as physical evidence? No, couldn't be.

Otherwise she'd have some memento, some fragment. She has the patience of ( _her_ ) a goddess, a sliver of affection tinging her quiet patience with all of us. She understands that he could not truly love her, as she deserves, not in the capacity that should be.

Oh, yes, many think of them as a lovely couple, just waiting for them to jump each other's bones. It is highly unlikely of that to ever occur, with Cloud's fragmented memories and tenuous grip on his relationships, and Tifa understands. I believe they had a talk about that, the other week.

It's better to have peace, rather than strife among us, especially with how the rest of the world revers us so. It makes me somewhat uncomfortable, so I prefer not to be seen, even with how conspicuous this attire may be. It's rather simple to slip, unnoticed, but PHS are admirably resilient.

Ah, the White Rose indeed, the irony of it, paired along with the meanings that are generally connected to the blossom, especially in Wutai, are ironic.

Innocence.

( _She was never quite innocent, not since she'd left her homeland, and what she'd done to survive in this world and what she'd done to save her land she was the leader of.)_

They thought her the most innocent of them, bratty even, and Brat was her name bequeathed upon her by Cid. Out of all of them, did Aerith, the seemingly purity-personified Cetra, see what Yuffie hide.

Devotion.

( _She was so devoted, that it was her undoing, her loyalty to her homeland outclassing the loyalty that she displayed towards their ragtag group. She was so dedicated, that she gave up any innocence, the innocence of which her place as princess would've given her, the blossom of which she was famed as, among her homeland. And she left, to save her homeland_.)

They thought her fickle, a capricious child, one who got lucky in fighting against them. They were so secure in their image of her that they never saw underneath, the thing she'd said upfront as a _ninja_ , that they dismissed it. They never saw the source of her seemingly childlike actions, the fact that she was so chained to her land that she'd leave to save it.

Silence.

( _It was ironic, she was one of the loudest, brashest people he'd ever met, but she was also the most tight-lipped. So skilled, so talented that she never told anyone why she truly was leaving, and nobody noticed. She was so desperate to preserve her freedom, that she kept it hidden, with a gleam in her eye, with a façade to hide her sorrow at leaving._ )

Somehow, even through it all, they thought she'd stay around for ages, even after she came back after geostigma, that she'd be a permanent fixture in their lives. Eternally someone who'd be around, creating chaos, entertaining Marlene, cooing over Denzel, cheering them all up during their monthly gatherings instead of having her own life.

Now it's almost too late for them, but for him?

He is going with her, protecting her, silencing the demons for her as much as she does for her. They will not notice him missing for a day, as he is as flighty as Cloud is with his delivery service. Yuffie they'd notice after a few hours, and eventually will find the message on her bed.

He imagines that Marlene or Denzel will find it, even as they make the journey with Cid to Wutai. He cannot imagine a world without the one beside him after all, the vivacious, unpredictable, unorthodox ninja who'd stolen far more than gil and materia.

She'd stolen his heart as well.

Or, maybe, as she smiles radiantly as him, the sunrise a pale sight in comparison to the emotions in her eyes, he'd given it to her.

I got the feels throughout this and uh, totally didn't get teary towards the end. This is Vincent's thoughts on Yuffie, and it jumps _alllllllllll_ over the place in terms of locations. See, I see Barret and Cid seeing her as more of a little sister, or even a niece or daughter, and thus the Brat nickname which he _does_ give her in the game.

According to some fanfic author, please don't quote me on this. Vincent's head is really funky to work with, and I missed a ton of details as well, but _hey_ , I haven't played any of the games. Fine, I suck at games in general, whatever. I'm leaving it open-ended because I kind of see a ton of routes I could work with, but I have this zombie apocalypse plunny set in FFVII… so, no-go. I'm becoming more confident with posting which is _awesome_.

If you want a sequel, review~ If you like it, please say why. If you hate it… well, tell me why eh?

-fairygloss the nymph


End file.
